Yesterday, Jeff and Amy traveled to the Atlanta Airport to meet Umberto, our newest superstar at Pickwick pugs. He had traveled all day from Serbia along with his sister (who is going to be living in a show home in South Carolina) and was one tuckered out little boy. At 5 months he was an incredible traveler though and everyone at the vet during his wellness checkup today fell madly in love with everything about him. 

To be extra safe we completed a Brucellosis test at the vet and we will keep him quarantined downstairs in the studio for a couple of weeks. Amy slept downstairs on an air mattress to keep him company! He wants to play with all the toys in the training area and it's obvious he is going to fit right in with his incredible personality. We love his mink coat, his amazing bone, his gorgeous face, he has nice tight pasterns, dark toenails, dark eyes, dark ears, beautifully level topline .... and on and on and on! Oh yes, he's also a kisser. ;)  Amy and Jeff fought over who would drive and who would hold him on the long drive home. We got home at 1:30 AM but it sure didn't feel that late!

Welcome to America and Alabama Mr. Umberto. Thank you to his incredible breeder for entrusting him with us. 

Big congratulations to Mr. Drysdale (Pickwick's Mr. High Falutin') and Eliza (Pickwick's Too Generous to Trifel With) for finishing their AKC championships this April, 2024!

It's always fun "finishing" (completing their championships) at local shows here in Alabama. Mr. Drysdale won Winners Dog every day he entered in the classes (out of Bred By class) in Columbiana beating out some really nice dogs. He also won Best of Winners and Best of Breed Owner Handler. Eliza won Winners Bitch a couple of days as well, plus Best of Opposite Sex and then several amazing awards like Winners Bitch, Best of Breed Owner Handler, Best Bred By, and even 1st Place in the Bred By Exhibitor Toy Group in Montgomery, AL and 4th place in the OH Toy Group. It is rare that both Jeff and Amy are able to attend a show together because of work schedules and kennel duty with the other members of the grumble so we had to attempt a win photo with both Drysdale and Eliza the day they each won Winners. Good thing the photographer didn't choose the photo when Drysdale was inappropriately sniffing Eliza's back end. lol.

Beatrix also contributed to the grand collection of ribbons and wins, winning Best of Breed in the 4-6 Beginner Puppy Class each day, plus placements in the Toy Group (including 1st place one day!) To quote the judge, she was a rockstar and rocked the ring!

Each day she got better and better and by the last day she was like a pro! She was such a fast learner and enjoyed meeting all the different dogs and people.

We failed to post Eliza's wins last month in Jackson, Mississippi which included Best of Breed, Best of Winners, Best of Breed Handler, against some tough competition. Here she is in Jackson, MS:

And then the month before that, in February, she won a huge win against a huge lineup in Atlanta under judge Randy Garren, including Best of Opposite, Best of Breed Owner Handler, and Best of Winners.

Eliza just needs 1 more single point and then she will become CH Pickwick's Too Generous to Trifle With. Hopefully, she will finish in Montgomery next week!

Eliza, Mr. Drysdale, Beatrix, and Tiggy took a long drive with Amy down to Arcadia, Florida and returned home with a ton of wins and ribbons.

On the way down we stopped in Tampa to drop off Jagger to his new companion home.  He is our boy we brought back from Spain as a show prospect but, alas, he turned out to be an amazing companion pug instead so he is living the life now with his new family and getting so much love and attention. Here are some shots of Jagger, (they are calling him Mr. Jones now, too), bred by Mireia Cabre of Diabolbric Pugs, Spain:

We tent camped at a nearby State Park (HIGHLY recommend Lake Manatee State Park) and it was just magnificent listening to the sounds of different birds and seeing so much wildlife all around. (Yes! lots of "beware alligators" signs .... I'm pretty sure we heard one, but we never saw one). It was an adventure for everyone and the campfires were a hit, too.

There were TWO shows each day, Saturday and Sunday. It was EXHAUSTING but worth every second. Mr. Drysdale won Winners Dog all 4 shows, Eliza won Winners Bitch all 4 shows, and they each took turns sharing the Best of Winners award. Eliza also won Best of Opposite Sex. Then, of course, we had Tiggy and Beatrix's first BPUP (4-6 Month Puppy Class). Not only did they each win Best of Breed, but Beatrix won 1st place in the Toy Group and Tiggy won 2nd place. It was a hoot, but as I told the judge, "you have to start somewhere!" lolz. Yep, Beatrix's judge was so amazing and just worked the photo shoot with a spontaneous sit when the totally green, 4 month old puppy wouldn't hold a stack. Best win photo ever if you ask me!

And yet another fabulous surprise on the trip was when Beatrix and Tiggy's brother Jeremy (new name Louie) and his parents drove over from Sarasota to the show to visit! It was so much fun and I honestly believe they remembered each other. We got some great photos as well (thank you Erin!) . . . .

2 Shows per day was definitely exhausting, though ... especially for the 4 month olds.

The dogs enjoyed grilled tripe for dinner and treats! And Amy enjoyed campfire breakfasts.

We are going to miss Tiggy and Beatrix so much. As soon as we got back from Florida, we washed Tiggy and drove to meet her new owner who is a retired veterinarian who used to breed and show pugs. She will hopefully be headed toward the obedience ring for some fun things to do and she is joining another beautiful big pug brother.

Beatrix will be headed to live with an amazing mom who she met in Florida and also joining a big bro pug named Tug. They have found such amazing homes but we really wanted to keep them. Sadly, we are told over and over "you can't keep them all". Sigh.